Here’s what I like about George Clooney: George Clooney knows how to be a movie star. He’s a professional. He knows how to conduct himself in public, he knows who to thank and who to shade, he knows how to do press and he knows how to give a hell of an interview. That being said, even I was surprised by just how candid Clooney is in his new Esquire cover interview. I guess this was arranged for when George thought The Monuments Men would be released in December (it’s been pushed back to February), but George The Professional still sat down with Esquire and gave one of the most candid interviews I’ve ever read from him. He slams Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe HARD. He also praises the crap out of Brad Pitt. It’s pretty awesome. You can read the full thing here and here are some highlights:

George’s Leo DiCaprio story: Clooney suggested they might play [basketball] someday. DiCaprio said sure, but felt compelled to add, “You know, we’re pretty serious.” They played at a neighborhood court. “You know, I can play,” Clooney says in his living room. “I’m not great, by any means, but I played high school basketball, and I know I can play. I also know that you don’t talk sh-t unless you can play. And the thing about playing Leo is you have all these guys talking sh-t. We get there, and there’s this guy, Danny A I think his name is. Danny A is this club kid from New York. And he comes up to me and says, ‘We played once at Chelsea Piers. I kicked your ass.’ I said, ‘I’ve only played at Chelsea Piers once in my life and ran the table. So if we played, you didn’t kick anybody’s ass.’ And so then we’re watching them warm up, and they’re doing this weave around the court, and one of the guys I play with says, ‘You know we’re going to kill these guys, right?’ Because they can’t play at all. We’re all like fifty years old, and we beat them three straight: 11–0, 11–0, 11–0. And the discrepancy between their game and how they talked about their game made me think of how important it is to have someone in your life to tell you what’s what. I’m not sure if Leo has someone like that.”

Advice from dad: He’s grateful, in particular, to his father, for being the guy who tells him what’s what; who tells him to think of the consequences of his actions before he acts; and who, when his son called to ask whether he was “in trouble” for his political stand on the Iraq war, answered thusly: “He was like, ‘Do you have a job?’ I said yeah. He goes, ‘Do you have money in the bank?’ I said yeah. So he goes, ‘Shut up. Grow up—you’re a grown man, you know. Freedom of speech means that when you speak up, you have to be ready for people to say bad things about you. That’s how it works.’ And I said, ‘Got it.’ And you know, I knew it, but it does help to hear it from your old man.”

The Russell Crowe story: “The truth is that [Crowe] did send me a book of poems to apologize for insulting the shit out of me, which he did. He picked a fight with me. He started it for no reason at all. He put out this thing saying, ‘George Clooney, Harrison Ford, and Robert De Niro are sellouts.’ And I put out a statement saying, ‘He’s probably right. And I’m glad he told us, ’cause Bob and Harrison and I were also thinking about starting a band, which would also fall under the heading of bad use of celebrity.’ And that’s when he really went off on me. ‘Who the f–k does this guy think he is? He’s a Frank Sinatra wannabe.’ He really went after me. And so I sent him a note going, ‘Dude, the only people who succeed when two famous people are fighting is People magazine. What the f–k is wrong with you?’ But then I had a year. Then I had Syriana and Good Night, and Good Luck, and he was gonna see me at the Golden Globes ’cause he was nominated for Cinderella Man. So he sends me a disc of his music and a thing of his poetry. I think he said, ‘I was all misquoted,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah. Whatever.’”

On Twitter: “If you’re famous, I don’t—for the life of me—I don’t understand why any famous person would ever be on Twitter. Why on God’s green earth would you be on Twitter? Because first of all, the worst thing you can do is make yourself more available, right? Because you’re going to be available to everybody. But also Twitter. So one drunken night, you come home and you’ve had two too many drinks and you’re watching TV and somebody pisses you off, and you go ‘Ehhhhh’ and fight back. And you go to sleep, and you wake up in the morning and your career is over. Or you’re an a–hole. Or all the things you might think in the quiet of your drunken evening are suddenly blasted around the entire world before you wake up. I mean, when you see, like, Ashton Kutcher coming out going, you know, ‘Everybody leave Joe Paterno alone,’ or whatever he said, you just go, ‘Fifteen minutes longer and a thought process and probably you wouldn’t have done that.’ ”

He loves Brad Pitt: “For a long time now, Brad has been the biggest movie star in the world,” he says. “He’s bigger than me, bigger than DiCaprio. And I really admire how he deals with that. It’s not easy for him. But he tries to be the most honest version of Brad Pitt that he can be. And he also remains unavailable. He’s still a giant movie star because you can’t get to him. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think of him as incredibly talented and smart and all those things. But you also can’t get to him.”

He says Brad’s WWZ reshoots “almost killed him.” “I saw him in London when he was doing the World War Z reshoot. I called him up and said, ‘What are you doing? I’m doing reshoots.’ He said, ‘I’m doing reshoots.’ We met up. And I was like, ‘How you holding up?’ And he took out a knife and stabbed it in the table and we drank a lot of vodka and he just said, ‘This one’s going to kill me, man.’ It was a huge reshoot and Brad was putting it on his shoulders. He picked it up and put it on his shoulders and took it away from all the people who were screwing it up. Carried it over the finish line. Got it made into a film that was well reviewed and made a lot of money. And I just wrote him an e-mail and it said, ‘This one is all on you, brother. Congratulations, because I know this was a killer.’ You know? You don’t want your zombie movie to be the killer, but it was.”

The Leo and Crowe stories are amazing, right? I have no memory of Crowe talking sh-t about George, but I guess the time frame is 2003-05-ish, right? Why don’t I remember that? Hm. Well, if Russell really did go after George like that, then I do love the boy drama and the way George shut it down by being the adult. As for Leo – God, I love the point George makes. Leo is surrounded by all of these yes men and trash-talkers. As so many stars are.

I met him once at an Italian restaurant in NY. He had no reservations (neither did I) and ate at the bar (as did I). He was by himself and talked with one of the bartenders most of the time. What you say is true. No matter what they were talking about, he made it sound intelligent and elegant. I got the sense he’s always thinking about the best words to get his point across. I wish I was that eloquent and articulate. Speaking of which, I rarely approach celebs but my friend and I just had to here (he was alone. You can’t not say something) and all I could say was I loved him on Roseanne. It made no sense because I’ve loved him in so much more after that. Not eloquent and articulate at all.

I may not love his personal life choices but when a person is talented and intelligent enough (and not really hurting anybody), I care less about that than I usually do.

I like George…. but his question about whether Leo has any friends who tell him the truth doesn’t ring true. It’s pretty clear Leo has a good head on his shoulders. People can dislike him for dating models, but Leo isn’t ever in the news for negative press. He’s in the news for his work. George, on the other hand constantly dates women every 2 years, brings them with him to the red carpet & by doing so gets press for his personal life. Leo brought Gisele once to a red carpet event with him. Maybe Leo has some ass kissers around him, but clearly he is mature enough to not let it effect his work or his image.

@Sagal, who wrote: “I like George…. but his question about whether Leo has any friends who tell him the truth doesn’t ring true. It’s pretty clear Leo has a good head on his shoulders. People can dislike him for dating models, but Leo isn’t ever in the news for negative press. ”

Hmmm … I don’t think George Clooney was casting shade at Leo about his choice in acting roles (which are usually right on the money), dating the ‘predictable-and-ever-younger-as-he-gets-older’ models, the vacations with nothing but ‘Bros,’ or the live-in ‘Besty’ Lucas Haas.

I think George is talking about the ‘ego’ thing. Leo talked sh$t about the upcoming basketball game (then had one of his hanger-ons get in Clooney’s face and talk sh!t about the basketball game), but he couldn’t back it up. Leo doesn’t have anyone in his inner circle who could have pulled him aside and whispered in his ear “Are you crazy, man! We’re going to get our as$es handed to us.” So Leo might have then honestly said: “Naw, that’s okay. It’s just fun to us, man. We aren’t nearly organized or sober enough to play an actual game. But thanks anyway, man. ”

It’s about people in Leo’s inner circle being honest with him about the areas in which he ‘lacks’ common sense/skill/talent … like, don’t talk trash about being good enough in basketball to beat a 50-year-old man and his 50-year-old playing partners, when you’re clearing ‘not’ at that level or in that shape to do so.

Here’s a fun visual comparison: Did you ever see “The Fifth Element?” It’s a very campy Bruce Willis film, written and directed by Luc Besson, co-starring Besson’s (then) very young wife Milla Jovovich (she of the “Resident Evil” series fame). Well, in this film there is a famous, interstellar 23rd Century, ‘metro-dressing-exotic wig wearing’ D.J. named Ruby Rhod … acted deliciously by comedian Chris Tucker. Rudy Rhod is extremely talented, yet he has a posse of three men, dressed in outfits coordinated to his, whose sole purpose is to follow Rudy around, tell him how incredible (how ‘Green’) his show was, and how good he looks. But despite his undeniable talent, Rudy Rhod is a rude, obnoxious Diva who thinks he’s entitled to anything he wants, when and where ‘he’ wants it, and he won’t tolerate a negative word from his posse of yes men or anyone else.

Leo is your classic insecure film star. He cant go anywhere or do anything without his cheering squad, including date a woman. We excused the p*ssy party frat boy bs in the 90s but the guy is clocking 40 now.

LOL. True. Someone downthread said he’s reminiscent of an Old Hollywood type movie star and I think so. Maybe Cary Grant? Although I referred to him as my generation’s Warren Beatty downthread somewhere.

George shouldn’t say anything negative about Leo as they have very similar lifestyles. Both have yes men, both are rather childish and soiled but have great PR machines to cover their less than admirable private lives.

GC has done wonderful things for various charities and causes. He should stick to talking about those things and leave the trash talk to others.

I loved his Leo story too. You shouldn’t need to have all your friends around like that ALL THE TIME. I mean, I get that he has a lot of long time friends, but even when he was younger, and he took those 2-3 years off, and basically went around Europe getting drunk and hooking up w/models–they were there. Don’t any of these people have jobs? Families? Other friends? I don’t understand how they can just drop everything and go with him on vacations and things all the time.

I’m surprised he isn’t a bigger asshole, because I’m sure all of his friends kiss his ass all the time.

@Eve – this is in response to your comment about Leo bringing his b*tch Lucas Haas on all dates. I agree with you that it is strange about Haas following him around like a loyal bulldog. I noticed a lot of celebs have a BFF AKA a “b*tch” that sacrifices their life to make the celeb happy. Jonathan Cheban follows Kim Kartrashian around. There are others who either can’t be seen without their hound dog or their mom. And in Leo’s case he had both Lucas and his mom who have given up their life for his comfort.

In Brazil that happens a lot with football players, we call them the player’s “pals” — they’re actually informally employed as the player’s personal assistant which is just an euphemism or a fancy way of saying he’s the guy who fetches hookers, booze and drugs for him.

The trash talking was good, however, at no time was Clooney called to task about the way he uses women. Sorry, George I just don’t buy all this buddy buddy stuff and no talk about the women in your life. Puff piece journalism. There must have been a contract with this writer not to bring up Clooney’s girlfriends.

“Uses women”?! Ummm how about no? I may think he has crap taste, but all the women he has dated (or “dated”) were adults with jobs. They knew EXACTLY what they were doing. Please don’t infantilize women.

I find George’s acting so one dimensional. It’s like the singer who thinks she’s great because she can hit the big note at the end of the song. I also find this competitive pettiness in all men very unattractive. Give me the great British actors or the likes of Jimmy Stewart and that sort of professional maturity and I’ll show you a talented gentleman.

@Rita, who wrote: I also find this competitive pettiness in all men very unattractive. Give me the great British actors or the likes of Jimmy Stewart and that sort of professional maturity and I’ll show you a talented gentleman.”

But that’s what ‘all’ men are … competitive. They can’t change it because that’s how they’re wired and have ‘been’ wired since the CAVE. You can’t beat, shame, or trick it out of them … and women everywhere should probably come to terms with that.

LOL!! And trust, if the great British actors and the likes of Jimmy Stewart had ‘had’ the kind of invasive journalism that exists today, you would have been shocked gray by all the intrigue going on back then.

@Emma: you should get interested in modern anthropology and you would be amazed after a book of two of this very specific and documented topic that nobody is “wired” AT ALL, that most of genders behaviour are entirely created by culture… and that alone explain why women shouldn’t come to terms with a totally fabricated notion.

I am also sure you will be amazed from the very first pages to discover that men AND women were indisctinctially hunters…. or nannies.

I agree, I don’t get what’s great about this interview. he sounds like a self-opinionated bighead.
Brad Pitt and Clooney have a lot of things in common, they both like to profit from the publicity they get from their relationships, they both can’t act and both their careers are fading. Meh!

I think Brad was overwhelmed with the reshoots because of what he and Angie were dealing with too. Doubt he shared that with George.

Regarding Leo.. I’m not surprised. I never understood Leo and his pose. especially at the age he is now. They all seem to circle around him. Even Toby who has a family. Never understood Lucas.. so it was funny that they thought they had such major game and it turned out NO. Really funny that they loss 3 games and didn’t score 1 basket.

Just curious why George is yapping about others and not himself. Why no stories about Stacy or his life and whatever.

Love it! I do remember that Russell Crowe stuff, that’s pretty funny and the Leo story is priceless and…somehow makes a lot of sense. It’s the Twitter comments I really agree with though. Social media and reality shows killed the movie star. Everyone is famous! Everyone’s opinion matters! They’re all just like you! It’s all crap, but somewhere along the way people started to believe it. Some weird egalitarian idea where we are supposed to give money to be “entertained” by untalented people. I hate it.

As I said to other friends, I knew that was something off between Leo and George. Remember George didn’t mention Leo’s name when he won the golden globe and Leo was the producer of Ides of March in that year…

Clooney appreciates old school Hollywood glam, I love it. None of this Twitter nonsense, he maintains an air of mystery and its still sexy as hell. Oh, and as much as I looooovve Leo, Clooney was spot on.

I adore George and I like Leo too. I don’t think that he was shading Leo so much as he was issuing a “he needs a reality-check sometimes, real friends would provide that”. I know it probably wasn’t PC to put it out there publically but I also don’t think that it was shading Leo as much as it was his entourage. Perhaps, he even finds it sad that Leo lacks a real friend.

Oh, I don’t think that they are friends and I certainly think that George has some thoughts on how Leo lives his life and who he hangs out with. I can imagine George shaking his head at Leo and his crew for sh*t talking but, also, giving his head an extra shake because it is sad if you don’t have a reality check friend. You know, someone who will tell you like it is. It seems George has that in his own father and knows how valuable it is.

I said this before, but based on one basketball game he decides that the guy doesn’t have real friends? No need to go there in order to make himself sound better. That’s the opposite of class, and I say this as a fan.

Old school Hollywood,you’ve nailed it.
And that is the main reason why I think he should be in couple with Dita von Teese. THAT would be a match made in heaven. But I suppose an independent woman with a real career is not what George likes, even if probably Dita doesn’t want to have children or get married again. Sigh.

George Clooney smugness is kinda appealing, he fancies himself as Hollywood mayor , I’m no fan of Crowe and DiCaprio behaviours but even he has no business throwing shades at anyone, he only date trashy famewhores because he is too much of an egomaniac to handle a real relationship, not even talking about his friendship with this judgemental bitch Julia Roberts, he is sure no better than the one he criticizes.

Does anyone know why George, his assistant and Esquire are throwing shade at Noah Wyle? Was there some bad blood between them at the ER set to explain the weird shading of his career in order to prop up Clooney?

That *was* a strange part of the interview, wasn’t it. It also strikes me as old news. Why bring up Noah Wyle now? It would be like, in an interview with Tom Hanks, comparing Tom Hanks and Rick Moranis and the trajectory of their careers.

Clooney is just well-spoken, amusing, and knows how to give a great interview. Everytime that I start to dislike him basically based on his personal life, he read an interview and I am reminded how genuine and endearing he is. Also, his personal life really doesn’t mean much to me one way or the other.

I forgot to add, that I prefer him to Pitt as well.
Isn’t it amazing what a little charm and erudition can do for one’s looks? I am convinced that the reason that Clooney ages well is because the sparkle of his intelligence his visible in his eyes.

Yes Bluhare that too! Fighting the aging process (within reason) is normal and shows a degree of care for yourself that I like BUT when it gets into the ridiculous facial changes….what’s the point because that, in fact, points out an aging person that is vastly uncomfortable in their skin, imo!

In receiving a special filmmaking achievement award from the National Board of Reviews, actor George Clooney joked that “Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer’s.”

Clooney still had a chance to apologize for the bad humor day. When questioned about the remark by New York Newsday, Clooney sputtered: “I don’t care. Charlton Heston is the head of the National Rifle Association. He deserves whatever anyone says about him.”

When I heard that Clooney made these two tacky comments, he lost me as a fan.

Wow…great yarn! He was pretty candid in this interview, & I liked that. Not many celebrities are down to earth. However, when he asked the rhetorical question about Leo, I found myself asking the same question about him, due to his weird relationship arrangements w/the many women he’s had in his life. You know, the rumors & innuendo about the “contracts, expiration dates, etc.” Just made me wonder.

When, after a period of time, & it’s usually a year or two, & many tabloids & websites (Celebitchy included) begin to discuss how again, the “girlfriend” of George Clooney’s contract is up, and usually they’re RIGHT, and a “break up” ensues shortly thereafter…all I’m saying is the very same can be said about George. He does rip a good yarn, though!

I think he is bang on about twitter. I like George a lot. I find that he brings an old time class to what movie stars used to be but aren’t any longer. I doubt anyone will say anything since it appears he is telling the truth.

Wow what a read! What he said about Brad was particularly touching and sweet… Yea George is right everyone is now a star! There isn’t any aura to them just a few of them stand out! Social media killed it all… If there is one thing for sure about George he never backtracks he says it as it is…

about Twitter he is right but it seems also a bit like an old man venting about new technology. its not twitters fault people dont have a filter. just because you have a cell phone doesnt mean you are drunk dialing all the time

he certainly has a point about the mystery being gone. i see lots of actors on twitter getting sh*t for not doing everything the fans expect them to do. lots of people really have the “we are the fans, we made you, you owe us everything”. i dont like that kind of mindset.

and all artists that are truley great dont listen to anyone. how do you think the Mona Lisa would look like if it was done by art critics or fans?

I guess it sounds old to gripe about technology. It probably won’t alienate his fans though because I think that a lot of them are older and gripe about the same stuff. He did point out that he was only talking about the famous people tweets…and, again, I guess that is an old person gripe. I guess I am “old” too because I happen to agree with him. Usually I like the entertainers better, the less I know about them! It does preserve mystery and, of course, you can project onto them anything that you want them to be i.e. not stupid, vain, etc.

I agree. I think he’s also thinking of it being just another way to get rid of your privacy–as an actor. Because I don’t have twitter, probably wouldn’t even follow a celebrity even if I had it (except maybe Stephen Colbert, because he’s hilarious)–but how many other thousands of people think that a celebrity has to answer to them, be everything that they thought they were? A lot more than the regular people, who just follow it for fun. I’m sure that they get spammed, have people who want something from them (read their scripts, cast them in a film, etc), and occasionally put their foot in their mouths–and in the end, if you want to be more private, it just isn’t worth it.

But for me, if an actor can act, then their personal life (unless it’s something particularly horrendous) doesn’t affect how I see their films. Like George and Brad. I know a lot about both of them. I think they’re both good actors–the fact that I know George has contract girlfriends, and Brad and his family is under a microscope, doesn’t change the fact that they are good actors and can portray their characters well. For me, at least.

Love him always have since ER and he stopped bopping his head when he use to talk (side to side) He is veryhandsome indeed and he does get it and I think he is still pretty normal compared to others, he’d be fun to go to a bar with.

I think he is bang on the money about Leo. He still surrounds himself with the club kids and he is almost 40 years old. His comments about twitter are both right and it sounds like an old man who doesn’t get how the world works these days. Twitter is both good and bad, its about how you use it.

These are the meatiest quotes I’ve read in a while. It’s not easy to get to George, but, apparently, when you do, he’ll tell you the best stories. At the risk of sounding like I’m auditioning to be one of his desperate female hangers-on, I could listen to him talk about random celebrities like this ALL day.

I like George but I genuinely don’t think there was any need to shade leo. Say what you want about Leo but he never talks negatively about any other actor and he is a far better actor than George. George kinda bores me in movies…

I didn’t think what he said was that bad about Leo. My take was that George respects him but was sad Leo doesn’t have that one person to ground him. A lot of actors & actresses make a point to keep people around them that don’t a$$ kiss. When you are surrounded by yes-men, you suffer. We *all* need to be balanced. To me what George said was honest — not shading.

But making that conclusion after one basketball game one afternoon? And why call out the guy at all? Does he think that will somehow help Leo? He can think it all he wants, but calling someone out publicly for no purpose is just another excuse to pat himself on the back.

Des – Still no excuse to tell the story to call out Leo and puff himself out a bit. If he thinks this about Leo, have a private chat. I don’t like that he uses the story to put down another guy so that he comes off as the better man. That’s the exact opposite of gentleman and class.

I have had the pleasure of meeting him a few times since his parents live in the same small, small town as my parents.

He is always gracious, friendly and funny. And so handsome in person that you just sort of swoon when you see him up close. And his parents are absolutely wonderful – they are down-to-earth, personable and charming.

I will forever love him for his role in the movie “The Descendants”. Say what you will about him being a one-note actor, but this character was very complex and he just nailed it. Having lost my sister to a similar situation (brain dead, having to pull the plug and wait…and wait…and wait) he showed all the layers of grief, anger, confusion, acting out, trying to deal with family members losing their sh&t, etc. etc. perfectly. I blub my eyes out every time I watch it but in a sense it’s very cathartic for me so thank you George.

And thank you for calling out Leo and Russell, they’re both a couple of wankers.

@Jaded – I feel the same. I have always been a fan of the actor/celebrity Clooney (not the personal life Clooney). One of my favorite (and I believe underrated) performances of his is in the Cohen Brothers “Intolerable Cruelty”. I think he’s more versatile than many give him credit for.

But his performance in “The Descendants” was inspired. The entire movie was something special, and I’ve watched it several times. I’m so sorry about your loss and I am so moved by the film that I can’t even imagine, having lived through something similar, how it must affect you.

Still, Russell Crowe had a point, as much as he is an insufferable twerp far up his own arse (very vain of him to send his poetry to come off as an intellectual when “apologizing” lol!). Clooney has carefully cultivated that image, Crowe only said it in his brutal own manners as he does, so no surprise here. Clooney does give off the vibe of suits and ties, smooth talker, bloody mary for lucnh and champagne for diner, even in his editorial shoots (this one right here btw!) and even in the coffee ads, he does want to give off a cool cat, manly image, some Gregory Peck/Cary Grant-esque vibe he tries to channel, and the Rat Pack-esque vibe he tries off since the Ocean Eleven days (him andf his buddy Brad Pitt friendship yadda yadda)…

Anyway all of them are agotistical, from Crowe to Clooney in the throwing shades… and regardless of DiCaprio being serious or whatever , I’m sure he would kick Clooney’s ass on a basketball game so… Clooney’s ego got butthurt hence the shade.

I totally agree with you about Crowe . And he was not only right about the Rat Pack-esque cultivated image of Clooney, but about the part calling Ford and De Niro sellouts. If the quote is 2003-2005, Ford was just out of Hollywood homicide, Random hearts and one or two other monstruosities. And De Niro’s case was just as tragic: 15 minutes, Showtime, Analyze that (not to be confused with Analyze this, a good movie).
You could hardly convince me those projects were picked for anything else than the paycheck.

Not very elegant from Crowe, but not very different from what many people expressed about the sad path of the career of these two at the time.

Crowe’s comments at the time were about advertising, he was calling those guys out for doing shitty ads in Asia. He had a point, but so did Clooney. Why is it ok to use your fame to shill your terrible, terrible band or the rugby team you have a stake in, but it’s selling out to shill coffee or whatever? Both are a bit gross, but at least Clooney doesn’t pretend he’s above it all.

It was about George Clooney whole persona as well, adding the ads to it. Crowe isn’t off the hook but hey he called Clooney what he was and Clooney didn’t like the truth thrown to his face. And once again, read my last paragraph I said that both were egotistical.

As interesting as George Clooney’s gossip is, I have always found it odd that he is so enamored with Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, and there is all this prank-pulling that goes on that gets told about them, especially around the Ocean’s Eleven movies. And now George is shading other guys, and in fairly lengthy stories. It’s almost like he’s obsessing about his relationship with other men. I just don’t get it. It’s childish.

I don’t mind their camarderie, although I’m sure there are many in their world who feel shut out they’re so clique-y. I do think George tends to fawn excessively over Brad, though. It’s the one aspect of his otherwise cool veneer that seems too eager to please.

None of them are saints, but I much prefer Russell Crowe’s asshole demeanour over George’s ultra-suave Rat Pack-wannabe image. Russell doesn’t think before he speaks, but that is partly the beauty of it. And Dicaprio’s image is far less cultivated and I do think he takes his acting far more serious.

And of all those he dragged under the bus, George ironically is the worst actor of them all. One-dimensional acting, over and fucking over again. He doesn’t push himself, he will never take roles that would take him out of his Nescafe-comfort zone.

Dicaprio, Crowe, hell, even Pitt has the guts to at least try and take their acting to the next level.

Anyone remember his infamous Oscar-speech? That’s enough for Clooney to be on my permanent dislike-list.

Aagje, who wrote: “And of all those he dragged under the bus, George ironically is the worst actor of them all. One-dimensional acting, over and fucking over again. He doesn’t push himself, he will never take roles that would take him out of his Nescafe-comfort zone.”

Have you ever seen the film “Syriana” (2005)? It is quite a different role (and appearance, I almost didn’t recognize him) for George Clooney. He won a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role, too.

Seen it, and frankly, while it is a different role, Clooney far and away wasn’t the best actor in that movie.

And awards don’t mean anything in an industry where Paltrow gets an Oscar over Blanchett’s magnificent performance as Elizabeth. Amongst many other instances where actors were robbed. Oh, for example, Leonardo Dicaprio many, many times over.

+ 20000000000000
I may be amused by reading gossips about theses guys lives but at the end of the day its their acting that interests me the most.
Crowe and Dicaprio over Clooney all the way.
And those Nespresso ads are so cheesy.

I think that if you are a big, serious and powerful star, you don’t need to insult anyone else. He can make the same points without calling out certain stars. I like a lot of his work, but I honestly don’t need to hear his opinions about other stars. Seems classless.

His dad sounds awesome. More celebs (and people in general) need to be told to grow up now and then.

I was so-so on him for a while, but just saw Gravity and was reminded how much movie star charm he does have. He really does know how to play the whole game.
I also think he’s right about how much access is too much. Social media especially, but I also think some give away too much private stuff in interviews as well.

Watching him in Gravity reminded me of the inherent charisma he has. Sure, I agree with others that his acting might not be quite as diverse as it could be, but he has that certain something that is really undeniable.

Yeah, their all movies stars by popularity – because neither of them has talent and yes they’ve won Oscars. Julia Robert is one of the biggest sluts of Hollywood, she’s slept with some of the most handsome men in Hollywood and she is a known alcoholic. Ole George treats women like cattle for two years and releases them. You can almost put everyone in Hollywood in one bag and no one will pop as being any better then their peer as far as them being rated on who’s the most Classy! Hollywood is a big gimmick and some can play it better than others.

I don’t get most of the comments here, did we read the same interview ? Clooney said that himself regarding Crowe’s comments : ” ‘Dude, the only people who succeed when two famous people are fighting is People magazine. What the *beep* is wrong with you ?” If Georgy Porgy have issues with DiCaprio, Kutcher or his not so good friend ? Noah Wyle, he should tell them like it is privately, since he is so smart and classy, calling them out out of nowhere publicly make him sound petty. If any of those guys had said the same thing they wouldn’t be praised by this place that’s for sure, but since it’s George Clooney it’s all okay right.

What did he say about Noah Wyle? I know he joked about offering bail money after he was arrested for protesting a good cause, in my opinion, but it was a joke. So, clarify for those of us not in the know, please. LOL.

So, George in nothing more than a gossiping little b*tch. He has no room to judge anyone. George gets the good scripts but can’t deliver in the acting department. Leo has more acting in his little finger than George will ever show on the screen. Makes me wonder maybe this is why Leo hasn’t won an Oscar he’s being shaded because of his personal life and George now has the ability/power to blacklist his peers through jokes and comments about them. He just shows how classless and envious he really is. He’s not professional in the least bit, his persona is all fake.

Yeah, he gives money to different organizations, but this just adds to his fakness to make him look good, he has a gimick and a good one that’s working big time for him.

I must be the only one who dose get what’s so epic about what George said. A lot of people have called out Russul for being an a** so I don’t see the big deal. I don’t pay attention to Leo so I can’t comment on that.

As for his Twitter comment that’s nothing new people on blogs and a some other celebrities have said the something.

This goes out to George if your reading these comments.

For the love of god stop name dropping you are seriously falling into the Goop and Matt Damon cadigory!!!!

Ha! I’m so glad to hear someone of his caliber calling DiCaprio out on his juvenile bullshit. Pussy posse, indeed! In my opinion, Brad Pitt and George Clooney have so much talent and Leo is basically just another version of Leo in every role he brings–it’s almost like watching bad community theater. The only movie I ever thought he was amazing in is “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.”

In addition, I’m going to once again voice my disgust at Leo playing every damned historical role I’m interested in watching a movie about–Hoover, Hughes–as Leo with a squint or Leo with slumped shoulders. Give someone else a chance at those roles, Hollywood. Damn!

Why is it that when George shades his fellow celebs he gets a pass from this site and everyone commenting, but when any woman has the temerity to comment on other women (most recent example Lorde, but there are plenty of others) they get slammed as rude and ungrateful. I think it’s a really nasty double standard.

No shade intended, but it reads like many posters here are upset because Clooney praised Brad Pitt and gave him props for a being a true Movie Star, while dissing Leo DiCaprio for being less than he ‘could’ be.

I’d say they are mostly in the minority so far–I just skimmed the whole thread and more have agreed with George than not. Some are inclined to be less supportive of Brad Pitt, but not a majority by any means.

You’re referring to the quality of upset posts directed at Clooney. I’m referring to quantity of the posts irked with Clooney. I agree that the ones who are upset with Clooney are REALLY upset. Still doesn’t mean they have the majority in the comments section. Yet. That is liable to change as more people weigh in. Does it really matter? We don’t all have to agree on everything.

I don’t think you’re right. I think folks who don’t like the interview don’t like the shading, period. It’s not a Brad Pitt vs. Leo fight. It’s a “don’t be classless by shading other people needlessly” fight vs. “I love his honesty.”

I loved that little short skit/film thing they did about being in the men’s bathroom in the airport together and skidding their feet underneath the stall to the next one. It was after the scandal broke about Larry Craig. I thought it was hilarious and they had real comical chemistry together. I’ve never actually watched the movies they did together because I liked the original so much.

“For a long time now, Brad has been the biggest movie star in the world,” he says. “He’s bigger than me, bigger than DiCaprio.”
DiCaprio and Crowe and Ashton may be the idiots he claims they are but I haven’t heard anyone unapollogetically talking them up as if they are the second coming of Jesus…like he does with Brad Pitt in this interview. The only issue DiCaprio seems to have is that his boys don’t have big enough names to kiss Leo’s name in Esquire as well.

Well George, Matt, Ben hell too many to name are always name dropping Brad. The question is why.

I think they do it for attention. Mention Brad and your interview will be carried everywhere. That is the thing. It pisses me off as a fan of Brad’s because he doesn’t do that. He doesn’t use anyone else to get attention..

I loved the comments on this thread. I love George Clooney, especially love that salt and pepper hair. He looks good, he looks his age, he has wonderful eyes and he seems like someone I would like to talk to. Keep on keeping on George!

His smile and his eyes are what makes me go weak at the knees,He has a way of looking at you that completely draws you in , like he know all of your secrets ,and I think he would be a great and loyal friend to have.

Russell Crowe has slammed George Clooney for filming commercials to make extra cash. The hunky ‘Gladiator’ star claims Clooney, who promotes Budweiser beer as well as whisky, suits and cars, is a one-dimensional actor who only acts to make staggering amounts of money from spin-off advertisements and deals.

The actors have been at loggerheads since sexy Clooney lashed out at Crowe’s rock band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunt, earlier this year. Crowe’s latest blow is the next step in one of Hollywood’s most spiteful rivalries. He said: “I had a good laugh when Clooney tried to compare doing ads for suits, a car and a drink to what I do as a musician. An endorsement is about money. My music is from the heart”. The Australian actor has vowed never to do adverts himself because he feels it would be disloyal to his fans.

He is quoted by Australia’s Melbourne Herald Sun as saying: “I believe if you take on characters for a living you can’t make yourself into an icon in order to sell a pair of shoes”

To me there is very little difference between Leo and Clooney.Clooney’ s posse is with him all the time especially in Lake Como where they can be discreet.In many interviews he has talked them especially Rande Gerber .Hell they bought a place next door to each other. Clooney and Leo both date woman who more style over substance.They both are involved with charities.

Ah, handbags at 50 paces boys! Isn’t it funny how people say that women are bitchy? But some of the biggest bitches I know are men. But on a very serious note, I have to take some serious painkillers every now and then for a chronic illness I have. One of the side effects of them is that I have a mouth without an edit function. I can’t help but think that this is what happened to Mr. Clooney here. He does not sound elegant to me, he sounds like a bitch raking over old news. I love it.

*Rubs hands together with relish.* Now these are the types of interviews I like to read. Of course Leo D is surrounded by sycophants and ass kissers. Of course. And if there was any doubt that Clooney loves him some Brad? Doubt no more.

So he sends me a disc of his music and a thing of his poetry. Ha. Jeezus, how big a narcissist is Russell Crowe? And yet . . . even at his heftiest, I still would. *feels no shame*

Even I, a female non-celeb, knew 15+ years ago that George takes his basketball very seriously. How could Leo not know?
George kept memberships with hotel gyms whch have bb courts so he could play when he was in town. I vacationed at one in Miami Beach & hoped for a sighting. I even promised & partially pre-paid a room-rate tip to the attendant for a call if Clooney showed up so I could go watch the game. Unfortunately, he was elsewhere that week. (:-(
Crowe? Has anyone ever accused him of being nice or well-mannered? Not the guy he hit with a tossed phone, hotel & restaurant guests when Russ is in a mood, & certainly not Meg Ryan.

I saw DiCaprio in Bondi, Australia about two years ago at the local farmers’ market (I think he was in town filming Gatsby at the time) and I swear on my kids’ lives he had his head down with a baseball cap on pulled down low and you would not have had the faintest idea who the hell he was except he had EIGHT massive bodyguards in a circle round him.

It was so ridiculous.

Anybody that has been to Australia, or knows Australians, will be aware that we pay no attention to celebs. Though we might stare, we don’t do the rushing up getting autograph thing at all.

Everybody that day was muttering about how ‘up himself’ he was (the ultimate Aussie putdown!)

“It’s funny, but in really stressful moments I’m the Zen master. I can do almost anything. In emergencies, when someone’s hurt . . .” I’m happy that Clooney has trust in his almost omnipotent abilities in emergencies. Good for him.

“We beat them three straight: 11-0, 11-0, 11-0 etc. etc.” I believe I would have gotten Clooney’s point about DiCaprio’s posse problem without all the details about his own superior basketball skills….

Clooney’s story about his buddy stabbing a knife in the table & drinking a lot vodka while carrying this *huge* movie reshoot in his shoulders sounded to my ear like he was talking about a man who’s bearing a wooden cross along Via Dolorosa. .. But yeah, I guess it’s educating to know about the remarkably hard life situations of “a giant movie star”.

Also, Clooney prefers paper[!] over electronics , he *lives* those moments other people just take photos of, and he had a Tesla before it became Hwood mainstream. He & his buddies are so much more REAL stars. So… Is he… a hipster?

I know I’m nitpicking, but still I found the whole Esquire article to be just a pretty typical PR piece. I didn’t find anything especially elegant in it, and to me Clooney just sounds quite self-important here. Probably just a matter of taste, I guess. Good material gossipwise though…

T his is why I will always love George. Also, he is the sweetest red carpet or entertainment news program guy. He was asked the same silly questions by some ET like reporter and he tried to give a brief, funny interview instead of being irritated. Gracious and a real man in a sea of baby wannabe movie stars. His dating life doesn’t concern me

Loved this interview, way to go George!
I think he’s right about Leo, because he hangs out just with people he ‘adimt’ in his posse and 20something models.
So immature Leo, everyone can talk shit but that’s not what really count. He’s just a mama-boy, way too over himself.

About the Russel Crowe story …well, I like him, but he’s crazy, to me he just seems like a man full of anger and problems. Hope he gets help.